The current state of media and entertainment is rapidly moving to digital forms of storage and distribution. Such digital forms include, for example, optical disk media (CDs, DVDs, minidisk, Video CD, etc.), digital video (e.g., streaming video, digital CATV, satellite TV). As media and entertainment content assume digital forms, it becomes much easier for individuals to abuse the copyrights of the content. These typically start off as some form of purchased entertainment such as a CD, DVD, Video-tape, digital book etc.
The digital nature of the content lends itself to easy duplication and sharing. The means for creating digital copies is readily available. For example, users can process digital content using desktop computer systems with easily obtained software (e.g., widely available on the Internet), convert content to alternative digital formats that may have reduced the value of the content (lower quality), or just make it easier to transfer the content to another person which may infringe on the original copyright holders rights. The widespread emergence of broadband internet connections greatly facilitates the abuse (e.g., unauthorized file sharing, etc.) of copyrighted content by consumers. As broadband Internet connections proliferate, it becomes much easier to obtain unauthorized digital copies of music, video, books, and the like.
Hence, protection of copyrighted content has become a primary concern. Generally, most prior art solutions to the copy protection problem involve encryption at the edge devices. Edge devices refers to the devices used to encrypt the content at the origination (e.g., at the content creator's premises) and the devices used to decrypt the content at the destination (e.g., at the consumer's home). The content remains encrypted during transmission. Examples include the encryption protecting DVDs, the encryption protecting pay-per-view video programs, and the like.
The problem with these types of edge encryption solutions is that generally it is easy to break the security and remove it from the work being protected. This is especially so with those media types available for playback on desktop computer systems. With the increasingly powerful processors and software available for desktop computer systems, only the most powerful encryption schemes remain secure (e.g., not compromised by “hackers”) over time.
Another problem is the fact that enterprises and service providers need to protect their networks from traffic types that could disrupt service. In order to ensure that their customers get the best service from their networks, enterprises and service providers have a strong interest in ensuring available network resources are not consumed by the unauthorized access and exchange of digital content media (e.g., unauthorized streaming media, MP3 files, etc.). The prior art provides practically no network management tools for the management of network traffic based on the actual data being transmitted/received. For example, while prior art “fire wall” systems are widely used to prevent unauthorized access to protected networks, the increasing importance of the World Wide Web to most businesses require the businesses to interface with the Web. One such widely used Web interface is HTTP web traffic port 80, which is used by both client side and server side applications to exchange data. Consequently, traditional prior art firewall systems have little effect in preventing the unauthorized traffic in the current network infrastructure.
Thus, what is required is a solution that can enhance copy protection for copyrighted digital content. The required solution should be robust enough to prevent easy circumvention while avoiding the imposition of latency inducing encryption on edge devices. The required solution should provide accountability for the dissemination of copyrighted digital content. The required solution should preserve network resources for use by authorized traffic. The present invention provides a novel solution to the above requirements.